When Western scholars write about non-Western societies, do they inevitably perpetuate the myths of European imperialism? Can they ever articulate the meanings and logics of non-Western peoples? Who has the right to speak for whom? Questions such as these are debated in this text. Marshall Sahlins addresses these issues head on, while building a case for the ability of anthropologists working in the Western tradition to understand other cultures. In recent years, these questions have arisen in debates over the death and deification of Captain James Cook on Hawaii Island in 1779. Did the Hawaiians truly receive Cook as a manifestation of their own god Lono? Or were they too pragmatic, too worldly-wise to accept the foreigner as a god? Moreover, can a "non-native" scholar give voice to a "native" point of view? This volume seeks to go far beyond specialized debates about the alleged superiority of Western traditions. The culmination of Sahlins's ethnohistorical research on Hawaii, is a reaffirmation for understanding difference.

马歇尔·萨林斯1930——

马歇尔· 萨林斯是我们所处时代中最显著的美国人类学家之一。现任芝加哥大学教授。萨林斯在芝加哥长大就读于密歇根大学, 他的毕业后留在那里工作，同时也在哥伦比亚大学讲课。那时他在学校教授的是人类学。

萨林斯首先意识到自己是一位波利尼西亚的民族志学者和历史学家。 他的关于波利尼西亚与欧洲接触的历史理论引发了主要的人类学的争论， 并且刊登在若干国家性的新闻杂志上。 萨林斯也与他一起工作的夏威夷人民而著名， 他为了本民族的人民和文化继续工作， 他在美国、欧洲和亚洲给许多学生和教师作过演讲。 他的研究领域使他得以游历了充满异国情调的土耳其、斐济、和新几内亚， 1976年他成为了美国艺术和科学学院的院士。